to be upset with what my child is learning at school / WWYD?

[IteotYEARawki]

My older boy is 5 and in his 3rd term of school so far (year 1).

He has learned that Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn, quartered and then burned on a bonfire.

That hundreds of people had their heads chopped off with a guillotine.

And the latest - that Anne Franks hid from the SS behind a bookcase, that people were marched off to concentration camps and that thousands, including children, were killed by gassing. And that the children were told they were going to have a shower when they were taken to the gas chamber.

There has been a museum display on Anne Franks & her life in town which was advertised on the radio - DS1 overheard it and started telling us all that he'd learned about it at school. Apparently his teacher has visited a concentration camp and described it, including the rooms full of boxes of bones.

I don't deny that history needs to be taught and that the Holocaust is part of it. But this graphic detail, at 5?

We already had a chat with his teacher after the Guy Fawkes thing. I don't think I'm being precious in not wanting him exposed to this stuff so soon. It'll take about 3-4 months for him to process through it all and then we'll have inconsolable crying at night while the horror hits him.

AIBU? Should we talk to his teacher again, or chat with the principal?

My DD is 5. Her history topic is toys. They are going on a trip to the Museum of Childhood. She is very enthusiastic and it does seem a little more age appropriate.
I do however leave the news on in the car. She does sometimes ask if she can watch the news too I think they cannot be completely protected from knowing that bad things do happen.

Well then if you still have a problem with the curriculum and have already spoken with the teacher, it's obvious you now go to the head teacher, isnt it? If you are asking Aibu then I think you are being precious but that is based on my own boundaries and my own 5 year old who would be enthralled by such tales and we could have a more age appropriate discussion around the dinner table.

Does sound like he has a real, natural interest in history though if he's coming home at 5 telling you all this !

PS my own 5 year old has spent a term learning about pirates and smugglers. They went to visit the local dockyards. They had tales of smugglers told to them in the local graveyard. He loved it!

Juggling or possibly, like most 5 yr old boys, he just has an obsession with blood and guts

Apart from anything else, it's disrespectful to Holocaust victims to use their suffering to satisfy the morbid fascination of little boys.

YABU and precious imo

It's not like they've shown him a graphic DVD about mass murder

They're teaching your son the same things they're teaching the rest of his peers. As a parent, it's down to you to help him process the information by discussion and reassurance.

I think the older he gets, the more he'll toughen up when learning about the world around him...but that's not going to happen if he's wrapped in cotton wool.

If you don't like the way the state are educating him, you should probably look into Home Education.

Captain I actually think that all history taught in primary school should be local history, where children actually have a context for what they're learning. It's also a great way to introduce the concepts of primary and secondary research. Otherwise it's just faceless people getting their heads chopped off for reasons which are soon forgotten.

I think we'll try to talk to the teacher tomorrow about the level of detail.

The rest of his class are 6 going on 7 so I suspect she didn't think - and I'm sure he was asking questions, he's always asking them! He's a good year younger than everyone else - he'll be going into year 2 in January but won't be 6 till end April (school year finishes in a few weeks for the long summer holiday).

However emotionally he is still 5. And my PFB!

I think your post is slightly disrespectful of 5 year old boys

Anyhow, I agree the history of the Holocaust should be something for older children to hear.

But worraliberty A five year old is incapable of understanding the Holocaust in context. Therefore it's a pointless lesson

sorry, should have said that was in reply to RealLife

Is it that he´s asking questions & she is answering rather than it´s stuff that she´s said to the whole class?

On the fence here. Have older kids now and I can really some pretty gruesome still about torture/ beheading etc from their primary days.

I'm also very aware that the proscess and understand at their own level. Therefore evacuation is terrifying for 7-0yr olds they understand what being separated from thir parents means etc. however " the soldiers who died in the trenches that we remember today , the 11th day" etc means little to them ( unless they have been exposed to gory horror films at home) beyond a bullet through the head and maybe a trickle of blood. It isn't , as I see it in my head, blood, gore, parts of bodies shot to bits, screams, drowning mud, smells etc etc.

Ann frank has always been primary curriculum. I remember watching about her on blue Peter myself at the age of 7-8 and reading the diary shortly after. Again I didn't really understand the horror then, and probably don't even now as an adult.

Agree the stuff you son has picKed up likely to be assembly stuff not specific class teaching. Remember things lie holocaust memorial day will be important etc

Teens learning about stuff like " protect and survive" with their nearly adult thinking mechanisms is terrible I agree- they have the terror ith out the adult coping mechanisms, but it has tobe done I guess.

Yes I th

Yes I think so, diddl.

People keep mentioning Horible histories as though the very existence of it means ALL kids wach it! My DD is 7 and has never watched it. Some kids are prone to nightmares etc and the bet person to judge when they are ready to learn about the evils of man is the Mother....or Father....not the school or the BBC.

What's he doing in a class of 6-7yr olds ( yr2) if he's only yr1 anyway? Small school of " accelerated "? If " accellerated" then you have to ak if its the right thing for him emotionally.

I know OP, it's amazing what they learn and are capable of understanding at this age. My DD is also 5 (year 1) and she loves it!

worra suggesting the OP home ed just because she doen't like ONE aspect of a child's edcation is ridiculous. MOST parents have some complaint at some point or other...we'd all be HE parents if we listened to you!

realife yes, they do mainly local stuff at ds1's primary for the first two years and it sees to work well.

A good history curriculum will have opportunities for kids to revisit topics as they mature throughout the years. Five year olds can get something out of discussing the holocaust, even without the political context.

I agree, your ds sounds very keen. The class were probably asking lots of questions and the information has come out that way.

He's in a class of 6 year olds - year 1 - who will all be turning 7 next year (year 2).

That's where they put him when his year R class got too big with the new entrants - class sizes are 15 or so.

Thanks for all answers and opinions. Am almost asleep! Will update (if anything interesting to update with!) after DH talks to her tomorrow.

OP, just wanted to say that I grew up in NZ and there's no way I was exposed to that sort of stuff at 5. We were learning to read and write and having free play at that age. In standard 2 we did a project on dinosaurs and that's about as scary as school got for quite some time yet.

I don't think it's appropriate for 5 year olds to be taught this stuff, and it sounds to me that the teacher may have deviated from the curriculum somewhat.

It still seems slightly inappropriate for a year 1 class of 6-7 year olds to me. But I suppose your DS being a year younger does exacerbate things.
You could still talk to teacher about the level of distressing detail and age-appropriateness without focusing too much on him being a year younger IMO ( though might mention it adds to the problem)

Five year olds can get something out of discussing the holocaust, even without the political context.

What? Go on, I'd be really interested to know this.